The Phonoarchive of Jewish Folklore
at the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine

One of the largest collections in the world of phonographic recordings of Jewish musical folklore is housed in the Manuscript Institute of the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine. A significant, well-preserved collection (more than 1000 waxen phonocylinders), including additional materials in the form of musical and textual decodings to phonorecordings - all foster a vibrant development of the archival collection. The basic purpose of the given research -is the gradual introduction of a precious folklore heritage contained in a collection, into an academic milieu of experts - ethnologists, historians, linguists, etc.

The collection is one of enormous historic and cultural value. Its materials present the skillful, painstaking work of several generations of talented researchers on the thorough study of the Jewish musical culture of Ukraine and (to a lesser degree) of Belarus (i.e. regions of a significant historic Jewish diaspora with traditional strong centers of religious and spiritual life.)

Today this collection is a unique monument of culture, which fully represents through live recordings the Jewish spiritual heritage of the said regions. It offers the researchers a vast spectrum of information on all genres of Jewish musical folklore, including the culture of Jewish synagogue singing.

The history of Jewish musical folklore on the territory of the former Russian Empire (later - the USSR) can be highlighted into two periods of collective activity. The first, pre-revolutionary period is associated with the researchers S.An-sky, J.Engel and Z.Kisselhof, the activity of the Jewish Historico-Ethnographic Society in St. Petersburg and Societies of Jewish Music in Moscow and St. Petersburg (1908-1914). The second period is linked with the activity of the outstanding researcher of Jewish folklore, M.Beregovsky at the Institute of Jewish Culture in Kyiv (1929-1949).

The collection has a very meticulous format. Its chronological time frame dates from 1912 to 1947. The earliest known recordings consist of (under the inventory: № 126-154) phonocylinders from the private collection of Julius Engel (1867-1927), an outstanding Jewish composer and musicologist. The renowned writer and researcher of Jewish life Semen An-sky (1863-1920), photographer Solomon Yudovin (1892-1954) and Julius Engel were participants of the first experimental ethnographic expedition of 1912, which was financed by patron of the arts Vladimir Hinzburg. The purpose of the expedition entailed an ethnographic study of the territory of the so-called "Pale" of the Russian Empire.

The expedition began on July 1, 1912. According to S.An-sky's plan the central point of the expedition was to be Kyiv, as the largest city nearest the region of research. During an excursion the participants of the expedition visited the boroughs of the Kyiv and Volyn provinces. In the inventory book of the phonoarchive only some boroughs are designated, where the recordings were executed (Skwira, Ruzhin, Pavoloch of Kyiv province), as well as the closest villages in proximity.

The subsequent stage of research activity of the St. Petersburg Jewish Historico-Ethnographic society resulted in the expedition of 1913. This time S.An-sky was accompanied in his work by the musician and folklorist Zinovii Kisselhof (1878-1939) and students of the Courses for Oriental Studies in St. Petersburg, Abram Rechtman, Itshak Fikangur (1889-1957) and Shmuel Shrayer (1883-1944).

As the route of expeditions ran along the greatest concentration of Hasidism1, the collectors' archive resulted in an enormous compilation of Hasidic melodies. The melodies are frequently accompanied by specific notes written down or recorded, and include entries by Bratslav Hasids, Ruzhin Hasids, Trisker, Volyn Hasids2, from Abraham Itshok Berdichevsky3,
from Joseph from Talne4, from Chernobyl rabby5 ets. Thus it is possible to consider, that in aggregate these tunes are of interest as the present
encyclopedia of Hasidic singing. In addition, a characteristic attribute of this part of the collection is a large volume of materials, which represents not domestic, but Jewish synagogical singing. Many religious tunes - fragments of the synagogue liturgy and paraliturgical chants, performed on special occasions outside synagogue (for example, on Saturday, during the holidays of Pesakh, Sukkot, Rosh Ha-Shana (New Year), Yom-Kipur (Day of Expiation), 9-Aba-Day, the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, etc.) - quite often have the form of completed musical compositions. They were recorded by the researchers directly from the voices of the khasans6 - Jewish cantors (Itskhok Berman from Olika, Simkha Kobrenik from Zaslav etc.).

To a lesser degree this collection also inlcudes the household Jewish national song and tool music. The records of the 1913 expedition are the basis of the phonocollection, both in quantitative and in the qualitative sense (under the inventory № 252-613). Because these records were well kept they allowed for a high level of restoration of the majority of the collection which is linked to the activity of the St. Petersburg Society and Ethnographic Museum, based on the Institute for Information recording of the NAS of Ukraine. Among the restored records there are also unique holdings: for example, greetings of the outstanding Jewish writer
Sholom-Alejhem to the Jewish Museum, recordings of the voices of prominent figures of the Jewish culture of Russia Lazar Saminsky7, Zinovii Kisselhof etc. (recorded in St. Petersburg).

A separate set of recordings exists which is not directly related to the theme of the collection, but is of great interest
(under the inventory № 614-683). Thus, the date "July 1913" designates
recordings, which, under our assumption, were executed by the researcher
Itskhak Lurie8 during an expedition to Palestine under the auspices of the Society of Jewish Music in St. Petersburg from Yemen, Moroccan Jews etc. The inventory includes entries on performers from the cities of Shiraz (Persia), Aleppo (Syria), Bagdad (Iraq), Sanaa (Yemen), Abissinia (the Jewish name of Abissinia is Khabash). In one of the reports of the Society of Jewish Folk Music in St. Petersburg we find the following record, which confirms our hypothesis on the origin of the given part of the collection: "Having no appropriate means, the Board of Administration unfortunately, was deprived of opportunities to organize the large-size expeditions for collecting and recording Jewish folk songs. Utilizing Z.Kisselhof's presence in the Kherson province and I.Lurie's (a student of the Courses for Oriental Studies) in Palestine, the Board of Administration has assigned - based on charges
related to the recordings - (the purchase of a phonograph with cylinders,
delivery etc.) a necessary sum of money. Z.Kisselhof has collected about 100 records, and I.Lurie has recorded on cylinders more than 170 Yemeni and
other Palestinian songs and prayers" 9.

This part of the collection together with materials from the archive of the above-mentioned Jewish Historico-Ethnographic Museum in St. Petersburg found itself in the Institute of Jewish Culture in Kyiv in 1930 after the closing in Leningrad of Jewish academic establishments.

At the end of the 20's and beginning of the 30's, Kyiv evolved into the integral center of Jewish studies in the Soviet Union. By historical circumstance, the successor to Jewish folklore and ethnography,- the work of which was interrupted by World War I and revolutions - became the Institute of musical folklore of the ethnographic section of the Institute of the Jewish Culture of AUAS (NAS) in Kyiv (since 1929). An independent phonoarchive was established at the Institute, one of the organizers of which was an outstanding scholar - folklorist Moses Beregovsky (1892-1961). As a result of his efforts, the expeditionary work
of the Institute developed systematic and academic depth, and the decoding of materials achieved a high level of acquired scientific analysis. M.Beregovsky's and his colleagues' realm of activity were both the large centers of the Jewish culture of a metropolitan type (Kyiv, Odessa), and separate small cities and boroughs in Volyn, Podillya, in Galicia, ancient Jewish agricultural settlements of the south of Ukraine (Dnepropetrovsk, Kherson, Zaporozhye, Nikolaev region, the Crimea).

The intricate analysis of a collection (phonorecordings, textual and musical decodings, which are applied to them) focuses first of all on the contrast in the contents and genre structure of folklore records of pre-revolutionary and post-revolutionary expeditions.
The contents and its basic accents in the expeditionary archives of S. An-sky, J. Engel and Z. Kisselhof were already mentioned above. The religious element inherent in the majority of early recordings, is poorly represented in the folklore palette of records of the Soviet period. M. Beregovsky's first expedition in applying the phonograph was made evident as a trend already in the summer of 1929. (Bila Tserkva of the Kyiv region and Slavuta of the Khmelnitskiy area).

In Bila Tserkva M.Beregovsky, through the local teacher and enthusiast of Jewish folklore Sh.Kupershmid, had recorded plenty of domestic Jewish folk songs of the local inhabitants (№ 37-105). These records practically give a complete insight into the genre structure of Jewish folk songs.

It would be logical to elucidate here the agreed-upon principles of the classification of Jewish folk songs. In modern Jewish folklore folk songs are examined according to the predetermined sequence of events in the life cycle of man. Thus, one of the most authoritative modern Israeli researchers of folklore Dov Noy classifies all song genres, distributing them in four basic groups:

The use of sheer coverage in the similar genre scheme has, perhaps, only one drawback: in the generalized category "farsheydene" are united artificially very diverse songs which also require subject systematization. This category of songs includes:

Let's note, that in the recordings of 1929 are presented more extensively the genres of love and family lyrics, less - songs of handicraftsmen and revolutionary workers' songs -- original evidence of recent historical events. The phonocylinders also include folklore which existed traditionally in the "untervelt" environment - - street beggars, the mad, thieves. The majority of performers includes youth, frequently only children, and also people of old age - inhabitants of "Georgia", a specific area in Bila Tserkva, where traditionally the Jewish poor people and "untervelt" settled.

Other recordings include material from an expedition to Slavuta in August, 1929. The majority of recordings includes wonderful Hasidic tunes, which even on the background of pre-revolutionary recordings amaze the listener
with a variety of rhythms and originality of melodic development. Of great interest are also rare examples of klezmer music10, which illustrate fragments of traditional Jewish wedding ("Kale-bazetsn"/"Bride`s sitting down"/ and "Dobranich11"). The majority of recordings from the archive of this short scientific business trip (№ 110-119) were later included in M.
Beregovsky's third volume of his five-volume anthology "The Jewish Musical
Folklore", devoted to the Jewish instrumental music.

It is necessary to note, that among the Kyiv recordings of 1929 there are very interesting and unique holdings. In 1929 M.Beregovsky recorded onto
the phonograph voices of the outstanding Jewish actors Solomon Mikhoels, Benjamin Zuskin, Lela Romm12, known writers Iekhieskel Dobrushin13, Notke Lurie14, and also instrumental pieces performed by the renowned violinist and composer Leo Pulver 15, Director of the Jewish instrumental ensemble. A unique feature of phonorecordings undertaken in the capital city, is, that the social status of the singers - fans in comparison with provincial singers is that among the performers the representatives of the creative and scientific intelligentsia, students of high schools and technical schools, prevail.

In 1929-1936 the geographical range of M.Beregovsky's expeditions was very limited. M.Beregovsky only sometimes travelled with phonograph beyond the administrative borders of the Kyiv region (we shall note only expeditions in Bila Tserkva for the purpose of phonograph recordings of folklore materials in July, 1933, in April, 1935, March, 1936). As an exception were the trips to Odessa in June, 1930 (№ 160-251) and Uman (Cherkassy region) in August, 1930 (№ 695-705), which enriched the folklore archive by plenty of records. In the folklore palette prevail once again love and family lyrics - i.e. those songs which were widely distributed in the urban petty-bourgeois environment.

The majority of records of 1931-1935 were made in "Kyiv". But even within the borders of one city from one performer the researcher managed to record an entire separate expedition. Thus, for example, from Jankel Veyzman, khazan, in 1933 M.Beregovsky recorded more than 37 phonocylinders with religious chants (№ 757-793), which can be considered a regular small encyclopedia of traditional synagogue singing. Of particular interest are phonorecords with examples of klezmer music registered from an ensemble of performers - instrumentalists (clarinet/flute, violin, alto) and from the separate musicians in Kyiv in 1935 (№ 831-846) as well.

In 1936 M.Beregovsky changed the approach of folklore expeditions. He mapped out new territories for ethnographic researches and in January, 1936 embarked with a phonograph for ancient Jewish agricultural settlements of the Nikolaev region (Kalinindorf, Sterndorf, Lvovo, Bobrovy Kut, Sholom-Alejhem, Freilebn). The expedition was very successful: from the inventory it is evident, that the inhabitants of Jewish settlements (handicraftsmen, collective farmers, students) responded enthusiastically to the folklorist's request and sang extensively (№ 901-955). The folklore records of this period are also specific in nature:
along with popular lyrical songs and ballads they also include popular Soviet Jewish folk songs, the majority of which are chastooshkas, collective-farm songs, songs about the Soviet Army. To a lesser degree the recordings include the tunes without words and instrumental music.

The strong influence of Soviet ideology, which is evident in the materials of the expedition, is explained by the local principle of organization of the Jewish settlements and the opportunity to ideologically cover by ardent slogans the populace en masse. In the expeditions of June, 1937 to the Zaporozhye region (Novozlatopol, Novodarovka) / № 979-992 / and the Crimea / № 993-998/ the above mentioned ideological accents are observed in considerably smaller degree. On the other hand it is necessary to note, that the records from ancient Jewish settlements quite often provide information on such insufficiently investigated folklore genres, as the Jewish folk theatrical performances (purimshpils16). According to M.Beregovsky in the variants registered in the Jewish settlements, the form of purimshpils has undergone changes and updates. Let's note as an example a variant of "Akhashverosh-shpil" which has been written down in a settlement Novozlatopol from Aron Lifshits (№ 1004-1008). More developed examples of purimshpils M.Beregovsky recorded on the phonograph during expeditions to the Nikolaev region in November, 1938. In the Kalinindorf district he registered some fragments of the plays "Akhashverosh-shpil" and "Joseph-shpil" (№ 1037-1045).

In general, from the point of view of information gathering on Jewish traditional folk performances, the expedition of 1937-1940 were very fruitful. In May 1939 in the settlement Ingulets of the Dnipropetrovsk region from Pinya Lundin the researcher managed to record the most complete known example of the play "Akhashverosh-shpil" (№ 1050-1062). Let's emphasize the large scientific importance of these phonorecords: earlier on, in the history of Jewish folklore there was no attempt to reproduce a purimshpil not only as a literary monument, but also as a complete musical performance. The given records M.Beregovsky utilized actively for research of salient features of purimshpils, and also for the study of principles of recitative music of folk plays. The materials of expedition served for the researcher as an impulse for further intensive scientific development of a wide range of musicological issues, which have found their place in the historico-theoretical section of the fifth volume of M. Beregovsky's anthology "The Jewish Musical Folklore", devoted to purimshpils.

The search for new regions of research inspired M.Beregovsky on carrying out in June, 1939 an expedition on the territory of Belarus (Bobruisk, Glusk, Streshin). Except for tunes without words and domestic folk songs, the folklorist recorded in Streshnin from Borukh Goldin and Isaak Slavin a variant of the play "Akeidas Itskhok" ("Immolation of Isaak") / №
1110-1115/. In 1940 M.Beregovsky opened one more threshold for research work - the- western regions of Ukraine (Kolomiua, Lviv). In August - September he worked there researching the folklore of Galician Jews. Among the recordings of this period it is necessary to note the fragments of a Jewish wedding in Galicia -- topical songs of badkhon17 to the rite of sitting-down the bride ("kale bazetsn") and "singing of the groom" ("khosn-bazingen"). The folklorist's archive also included two purimshpils from Kolomiya: "Akhashverosh-shpil" (№ 1229-1233), recorded from Khaim Leib Haiferman, badkhon and drummer of the klezmer capella, and "Joseph-shpil" which has been recorded from Khaim Leibovich, a synagogue sexton.

Phonorecordings from Western Ukraine are the last to be registered in the pre-war archive of the Institute of Jewish culture. But in 1940 the phonoarchive of the Institute was replenished once again considerably with phonocylinders from a private collection of Z.Kisselhof -- a colleague of S.An-sky on expeditions of the St. Petersburg Jewish Historico-Ethnographic Society (№ 1119-1213). The collection together with other materials from the personal archive of Z.Kisselhof was transferred as a gift to the Institute by the daughter of the deceased folklorist.

The time frame of Z. Kisselhof's collection spans the years 1922-1928. These years fall exactly on the period of a temporary recession of activity in folklore research: they included a flowering of activity of the St.Petersburg Jewish Historico-Ethnographic Society, but there were still to be scientific achievements ahead for M.Beregovsky. Thus, Kisselhof's collection filled more than a ten-year gap in the general structure of the phonoarchive and served as evidence of the work of the solitary enthusiast - researcher devoted to his craft. The majority of recordings were made in Petrograd-Leningrad, the city in which the folklorist lived. The collection also includes recordings from Belarus (Mogilyov, Babinovichi, Kalinkovichi). Of particular interest are the phonorecordings of the voice of the singer Sara Fibikh18, composer M.Gnesin19, Z.Kisselhof himself, actors of the Jewish theatre "Gabima" etc. In Kalinkovichi Z.Kisselhof has recorded a large variant of "Akhashverosh-shpil" from Isaak Gutman, a former puremshpiler (№ 1200-1212).

World War II interrupted the process of replenishing the phonoarchive with new materials. Only in 1944 after the staff of the Institute of Jewish Culture returned from Ufa20, did expeditionary work resume. There are several versions as to the fate of the phonoarchive during the period of occupation. Let's point out only one of them. Edda Beregovsky, the daughter of the folklorist, based on the reminiscences of her father, in an introductory paper to the collection of materials "Harps on willows" writes that the phonographic collection of a folklore department was transferred to Germany during the occupation: "The Fascists have shot in Babiy Yar all Kyiv Jews, but made careful inventory of what acquired; retrieving cylinders with records of Jewish folk music"21. This collection indeed was moved during the evacuation, as verified in the inventory book of the phonoarchive during post-war soundtrack registration: opposite the inventory numbers of some of the absent phonocylinders, the following explanation is listed: "tsebrokhn beveys evakuatsie" ("is broken during evacuation"). During the Soviet offensive, writes E.Beregovskaya, the phonocollection was discovered in Germany and was returned to its lawful owner.

The statements of E.Beregovskaya have legitimate documentary basis. After the war the department of folklore of the Institute of the Jewish Culture fostered relations with a literary museum of the Estonian SSR and the Vilnius Jewish museum. The correspondence with the Vilnius museum in particular is interesting from the point of view, that it sheds light on the fate of pre-war archives of the IVO22 and Institute of Jewish Culture. The director of the Vilnius Museum I.Gutkovich with bitterness wrote to M.Beregovsky about the remaining "archival handfuls" of the former collection and informed him about the re-registration of the archival materials, current work on the organization of book funds, and the challenges of the period of reconstruction. He complained about the unfair, in his opinion, resolution involving the accommodation of the pre-war archives of the IVO: "You were fortunate, you received part of your pre-war archive. Vilno had no such luck."23.

But following the post-war era there were fewer opportunities for wide application of the phonograph. The reason being a deficiency in dependable recording equipment and a lack of pure waxen cylinders. The total number of post-war cylinders equalled 27. It should be noted, that the objective of the post-war era expeditions was to research the regions of the Jewish ghettos of Transnistria in order to study the folklore of Ukrainian lands formerly occupied by German and Romanian forces.

The first expedition with the purpose of collecting folklore material was carried out soon after the Institute of Jewish Culture returned from exile -in November - December 1944. The expedition consisted of M.Beregovsky and M.Maydansky, an employee of the linguistics department. During this expedition M.Beregovsky recorded not only musical folklore, but also stories of former prisoners, the information about which is recorded in the inventory book of the archive of verbal folklore of the Institute of Jewish Culture. The next stage of a target-oriented expedition took place in 1945. The plan of the expedition, a draft of which has survived, emphasized the necessity to develop a thematic plan of the expedition, so that the material accumulated in it, turns out to be sufficient for supplementing the already existing Chernivtsy collection and subsequent selection of songs and fairy tales (stories) for the collection of folklore of the Great Patriotic War. This expedition was very diligently prepared. Item №2 of the expedition plan ("Straff of expedition") states: "Taking into account that the previous expedition in Chernivtsy objectively speaking had no profound effect, and given the expedition is the only one in 1945, it is necessary to carry it out with maximum output and in its staff should be the most skilled employees: M.Beregovsky - leader of an expedition, R [uvim] Lerner and Kch [inya] Shargorodskya."25 In all, in August, - September 1945 were recorded down on the phonograph 36 songs (phonocylinders № 1250-1265). The researchers visited the Vinnitsa region (Bershad, Bratslav, Tulchin, Zhabokrich).

In 1946 a short expedition was organized by Ida Shaykis, an employee of the Institute of Jewish Culture and assistant of M.Beregovsky, in Korostyshev of the Zhitomir region. The phonorecords from Korostyshev are in fact, a final contribution to the development of the phonoarchive of the Institute of Jewish Culture (№ 1270-1273). Not only war time songs have appeared in the archive of the expedition, its participants have managed to collect also a variaty of legends of Bratslav Hasids, stories about tsadiks - Baalshemtov, Ruzhin, Berdichev tsadiks and also religious tunes. The last record in the inventory book of the phonoarchive (under № 1274) was made in March, 1947 in Kyiv.

This then completes the development of the phonoarchive of Jewish folklore - a unique monument of Jewish Culture. Its subsequent destiny is one of discouragement. In January 1949 the Institute of Jewish Culture was liquidated and almost all of its employees were arrested (including M.Beregovsky). The entire archive of the Institute was confiscated. Only now, a half-century later this rich heritage of original Jewish culture is coming back to researchers and experiencing a renaissance.

The revival of ancient recordings in their natural live sound, i.e. the "re-recording" of phonocylinders (and many of them - to be read for the first time) turned out to be a fortuitous endeavor for the employees of the Institute for Information Recording of the NAS of Ukraine. For the re-recording of the phonocylinders, the experts of the Institute used a new, incomparable optical method of sound reproduction utilizing Edison cylinders". The re-recording was carried out in 1996-1999 within the scope of a collaborative project between the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine and the Institute for Information Recording of the NAS of Ukraine. The first practical result of this joint effort appeared in the form of a 1997 CD, "Treasures of Jewish Culture in Ukraine". The next stage of this joint effort resulted in the release of a CD dedicated to the folklore activity of J. Engel.

1 Hasidism - (from Hebrew: "Hasidut" - literally "the doctrine of piety") religious-mystical movement in Judaism, which has arisen on Podillya at the end of 30-ies of the 18th century and was widely spread in Podillya, Volyn, Galicia in the 2nd of the 18th-19th centuries back...2Bratslav, Ruzhin, Trisker Hasids - supporters of various currents in Hasidism, which were spread in Volyn and Podillya back...3Abraham Itshok Berdichevsky is a descendant of Leyvi Itshok Berdichevsky Leyvi Itshok Berdichevsky (1740-1810) is a Hasidic tsadik and rabbi, one of the most outstanding representatives of Hasidism of the end of the 18th, beginning of the 19th centuries. The leader of the Volyn Hasids, up to the end of life held a post of rabbi in Berdichev
back...4Joseph from Talne (Joseph Volinets, 1740-1810) - "court" singer and composer of tsadik in borough Talne of Kyiv region. One of the best known authors of Hasidic tunes
back...5Tchernobyl rabby - the head of so-called Tchernobyl direction in Hasidism (from the name of the borough Tchernobyl of Kyiv region, from where hails the stock of the famous dynasty of tsadiks)
back...6Khazan (from Hebrew: "khazo" - to see, contemplate) - in modern meaning of a word - cantor
back...7Saminsky Lazar (1882-1959) - known composer, researcher of the history of the Jewish music; one of the founders of the Society of Jewish Folk Music in Petersburg
back...8Lurie Itskhak (1875-1930ies) - student of the Courses for Oriental Studies, one of the founders of the Jewish Historico-Ethnographic Society, its archivist since 1917 - manager of archive and museum
back...9The report of the Society of Jewish Folk Music for 1913 and sketch of activity of the Society for the first five years (1909 - 1913) - Petrograd, 1914. - P. 14
back...10Klezmer music - traditional repertoir of klezmers Klezmers (from Hebrew: "kley-zemer" - "musical instruments") - Jewish folk musicians, which played at weddings, fairs, outdoor fetes
back...11Dobranich - traditional play for hearing from repertoir of the Jewish folk musicians - klezmers; it is executed, when the guests come back from wedding home
back...12Mikhoels Solomon (1890-1948), Zuskin Benjamin (1899-1952), Romm Lela - leading actors of the Moscow Jewish Chamber Theatre
back...13Dobrushin Iekhezkel (1883-1953) - a known Jewish playwright, dramaturg and teacher. Wrote in Yiddish back...14Lurie Noakh (1885-1960) - a known Jewish writer. Wrote in Yiddish
back...15Pulver Leo (1883-1970) - Jewish composer, violinist. The son of a klezmer, took part in performances of klezmers choirs. He wrote music to performances of the Moscow Jewish Chamber Theatre back...16Purimshpil - traditional Jewish folk performance, which is executed once a year, in springtime, during the Purim holiday. Purim (from Hebrew: "pur" ("puru") - fate) - the holiday in honour of the wonderful liberation of the Persian Jews from annihilation, organized by
the emperor dignitary Gaman (the 5th century AC)
back...17Badkhon (from Hebrew: "bedakh" - to make laugh) - professional jester, who entertains guests at Jewish weddings by witty jokes and songs
back...18Fibikh Sara - a known performer of Jewish folk songs. She collected and recorded Jewish domestic folklore back...19Gnesin Mikhail (1883-1957) - a known composer and teacher; the grandson of a known badkhon from Vilna (nowadays - Vilnius) Shaike Faifer. One of the founders of a Society of the Jewish Folk Music in Petersburg back...20In Ufa, capital of the autonomous republic of the RSFSR Bashkiria, where the Academy of Sciences of the UkrSSR was evacuated to during World War II
back...21Harps on willows: The Vocation and Destiny of Moses Beregovsky/Complied by E.Beregovskaya, the ed. is prep. by A.Eppel - I.; Jerusalem: Gesharim, 1994. - P. 12
back...22IVO - abbreviation of the research institute "Idishe Visnshaftlekhe Organizatsie" (in translation from Yiddish - "The Jewish Scientific Organization"), engaed in the promotion of the
Jewish literature, language, history etc
back...23The Vilnius Jewish Museum - to M.Beregovsky. A letter from 25.02.1947 IM VNLU, F.190, № 316, P.11. 25 IM VNLU, F. 190, No. 312, P. 2
back...